This invention relates to wall-mounted electrical service outlets and is particularly directed to a protective housing for wall receptacles either while power plugs are connected or the outlets are exposed. The problem addressed here is the protection of incompetent persons from the injury due to accidental misuse of power receptacles. There is an especial need for protection of curious and crawling infants from electrical shocks, either from conductive tool insertion into the outlets or a manual contact with partially exposed plug prongs.
The concept of protecting persons from such outlet hazards is long recognized in the prior art. However, devices taught for protecting (blocking) are cumbersome to install or unduly complex to manufacture and thus unlikely to become economically attractive for residential household employment.
One early prior art structure requires a dual component cover securable to a special retainer plate installed under the regular receptacle face plate (U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,475, to Beach, March 1956). Another outlet cover involves a specially constructed cover box to slidably engage the regular receptacle box plate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,327 to Tait et al), or a special retainer wall plate to which the cover is demountably attached to by tension latches (U.S. Pat. No. 2,510,745 to Kilgore). Another even much more complex approach to the problem is the elaborate fixture assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,264 to Ruskin.